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YUM! Brands Inc. announced that its Board of Directors formally appointed Rick Carucci, 47, chief financial officer from chief financial officer-designate. In October 2004, Carucci was appointed chief financial officer-Designate, establishing a transition for him to assume this position from Dave Deno, 47, who was named the YUM!’s chief operating officer at that time.

“Rick Carucci is a very skilled financial executive and strategic thought leader, with deep experience in every aspect of the restaurant business. Dave Deno has worked closely with Rick over the last five months, so his transition was seamless and is now complete,” says David C. Novak, Yum! Brands chairman and CEO. “I’m also excited Dave Deno will focus 100 percent of his time on operations. He has a passion for customers, team building and results, with complete knowledge of our operations. I’m confident he will drive our store level operations to the next level and continue to make progress running great restaurants. The YUM operating platform and processes are fully established, and Dave Deno will continue to ensure we raise the bar on execution,” adds Novak.

Carucci has more than 20 years of restaurant industry experience. He previously served as executive vice president and chief development officer of Yum! Restaurants International (YRI), where he was responsible for all international franchising and development, along with general management for Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Middle East/North Africa. Prior to that, Carucci served as chief financial officer for YRI, leading international planning, control, MIS, mergers and acquisitions, tax and treasury. He also served as CFO of the Asia Pacific Region and held various field finance positions over the years.

Deno is a 21-year restaurant veteran, with proven operating and leadership skills. Prior to serving as CFO of YUM, Deno served as CFO of Yum! Restaurants International. He previously served within the system in a number of restaurant operations and finance positions, and was rated as one of the company's top operators at Pizza Hut and Yum! Restaurants International.